„real“: this was the motto of the 79th spring conference of the Institute for New Music and Music Education. The conference took place from 8 to 11 April 2026 for the most part in the Akademie für Tonkunst Darmstadt. The focus was on questions of authenticity, credibility and the verifiability of data and facts in a complex, media-driven world.
We are experiencing ambiguity and confusion of identities, political directions and statements. On the one hand, this causes insecurity, and on the other, a tendency towards one-sided and seemingly simple solutions to problems. Whether and how can contemporary music open up opportunities to reflect these developments? The aim of the conference was to utilise the broad range of associations of „genuineness“ and „authenticity“ in order to stimulate an examination of the artistic scope for interpretation that eludes one-dimensional (attributional) moods.
The conference therefore focussed on compositions and artistic projects that work with opacity, ambivalence, showing and concealing. Lectures, discussions and artistic contributions were combined in four thematic blocks. The topics addressed included the question of interpretability within music and perception in psychologically and physiologically conditioned „parallel worlds“.
The varied conference programme also included several concerts. Under the title „Real songs?“, students from Akademie für Tonkunst performed on Friday, 10 April 2026. In addition to works by Rebecca Saunders, Keith Jarrett, Dimitri Kabalewski, Anton Webern, Claude Debussy and György Kurtág, the programme also included their own compositions. There was also a parcours of possibilities in the Akademie für Tonkunst on this day. At several immersive and participative stations, the audience was able to get creatively involved and gain insights into different working methods.
Several workshops were also part of the spring conference programme. At the „Wiesenkonzert“, kindergarten children became composers themselves in a mixture of improvisation and elementary music education. In the „Klangverwirrung“ course, children aged 7 to 14 went on a sound research excursion. They recorded ambient sounds, created sound collages and made crazy sound sculptures. The „Multi-sensory music“ course was designed for deaf, hard of hearing and hearing adults. 32 people took part and explored new forms of music-making and musical performance.
The annual conference of the Institute for New Music and Music Education is funded by the City of Science Darmstadt, the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, among others. The Akademie für Tonkunst Darmstadt and the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt are co-operation partners.
The next spring meeting of the INMM Darmstadt will take place from 31 March to 3 April 2027.
